One of the most notorious scandals in French history comes alive through Dumas' electrifying pen. When Marie-Madeleine de Brinvilliers, a married noblewoman, falls into a passionate affair with the Chevalier de Sainte-Croix, she descends into a world of poison, betrayal, and murder that would forever stain the glittering court of Louis XIV. The story begins with a dramatic arrest on the Pont Neuf, Sainte-Croix being dragged away to the Bastille, where he encounters the sinister Exili, a master of poisons. Through flashbacks, their illicit love unfolds against the treacherous backdrop of her family's manipulations and the deadly secrets they share. Dumas transforms historical fact into gothic melodrama, capturing the dark allure of the poisoning affair that terrified French nobility. This is true crime writing before the genre existed, wrapped in seductive prose.
![Alexandre Dumas, [Père] (Gutenberg Index)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fd3b2n8gj62qnwr.cloudfront.net%2FCOVERS%2Fgutenberg_covers75k%2Febook-58024.png&w=3840&q=75)
